Lubricator for machines supplied with compressed air



H. G. A. M. COSTES 2,710,672

LUBRICATOR FOR MACHINES SUPPLIED WITH COMPRESSED AIR Filed April 29,1952 MARIE CTB orey June 14, 1955 Inventor:

HENRI $88112. m

m a q United States Patent Ofiice 2,710,672 Patented June 14, 1955LUBRICATOR FGR IWACHINES SUPPLIED WITH COMPRESSED AIR Henri GabrielAndre Marie Costes, Sarrebruck, Saar Territory, assignor to Regie desMines de la Sarre, Sarrebruck, Sarre, a public corporation of FranceApplication April 29, 1952, Serial No. 284,920 Claims priority,application France May 8, 1951 3 Claims. (Cl. 184-55) My inventionrelates to oilers and more particularly to oilers for interposition inair lines for automatically lubricating air operated machines and otherdevices.

It has already been suggested to use in such oilers a wick which extendsfrom the oil reservoir into the air line and which is contacted by theair stream passing therethrough. Oilers of this type have manydisadvantages particularly in view of the fact that the wick has to drawoil from the reservoir all the way up into the air line. This requiresfor safe operation a high oil level in the oil reservoir, thereforefrequent refilling of the same, and the use of an oil of not too greatviscosity.

It is an object of my invention to avoid the said and otherdisadvantages of the known oilers of said type and to provide an oilingdevice which will efficiently and safely operate under all workingconditions particularly even at low oil levels in the reservoir andnotwithstanding the use of oil of high viscosity.

The said and other objects of my invention will be more fully understoodfrom the following specification taken with the accompanying drawing inwhich a sectional view of an embodiment of my new oiling device isshown.

As shown in the drawing my oiling device comprises a casing 1 whichincludes an oil reservoir 2 and above the same an air passageway 3adapted to be interposed in an air line 4, the air passing therethroughfrom the frontal inlet opening 5 to the rear outlet opening 6 asindicated by the arrows.

An oil dispensing member is mounted in the casing 1 with itslongitudinal axis at least substantially perpendicular to the axis ofsaid air passageway 3. Said dispensing member 7 extends with its upperportion into said passageway 3 and with its lower portion close to thebottom of the oil reservoir 2. It contains a longitudinal boring 8having at its upper end a lateral orifice 9 which faces the air intakeopening 5 of the passageway 3, and a second longitudinal boring 10 whichhouses a cylindrical wick holder 11 of smaller diameter leaving anannular channel 12. The said boring 8 and the said annular channel 12are connected by a transverse opening 13 which is arranged below theexpected lowest level of oil in the reservoir 2 and thus the said boring8 and channel 12 form a substantially U-shaped duct. At its upper endthe said annular channel 12 is provided with a lateral orifice 14 whichfaces the rear outlet opening 6 of the air passageway 3. It will beunderstood that air from the passageway 3 will enter through the orifice9 the boring 8 forming one arm of said U-shaped duct and will passthrough the transverse opening 13 into the channel 12 which forms thesecond arm of said U-shaped duct to leave the same through the orifice14. The boring 8 conducting air downward may customarily be called adowncomer duct and the channel 12 conducting air upward a riser duct.

The said wick holder 11 which is screwed into the lower position of theboring 10 below the transverse opening 13 houses and holds in an axialboring thereof the upper end of a wick 15 which draws oil from thereservoir 2. One or more orifices 16 in the wick holder 11 expose thewick 15 to the air flowing in the channel 12 in upward direction. Saidorifices 16 are arranged below the expected lowest oil level in thereservoir 2.

In the shown embodiment the head 17 of the wick holder 11 presses agasket 18 against the lower face of the dispensing member 7 and closestightly the lower open end of the boring 8. The portion 19 thereof belowthe opening 13 serves as a chamber to collect any dust carried by theair flowing downward through the boring 8.

The pressure in the air passageway 3 and that in the oil reservoir 2 arebalanced by means of a channel 20 arranged in the casing 1 said channelopening at 21 into the air passageway in the upper part thereof and intothe oil reservoir 2 at 22 above the expected highest level of oiltherein. The amount of air which will flow through the channel 20 intothe reservoir 2 is insignificant and will practically be equal to theamount of oil discharged by the oil dispensing member. This will permitthe use of compound oils in the reservoir avoiding large accumulationsof water therein. The location of the channel openings 21, 22 asindicated above will permit the operation of the oiling device even ininclined positionswithout danger of loss of oil.

Although only one specific embodiment of my invention has been shown anddescribed in detail to illustrate the application of the principles ofmy invention, it will be well understood that the same may otherwise beembodied without departing from such principles.

What I claim as my invention is:

1. An oiling device for interposition in an air line, comprising incombination a casing; an oil reservoir therein; an air passagewaytraversing said casing above said oil reservoir and having a frontal airinlet opening and a rear air outlet opening; an oil dispensing membermounted in said casing with its longitudinal axis at least substantiallyperpendicular to the axis of said air passageway; said oil dispensingmember reaching with its upper part into said passageway and with itslower part close to the bottom of said reservoir; an essentiallyU-shaped air duct including a downcomer duct arm and a riser duct armextending within said dispensing member in longitudinal directionthereof; the bend of said U-shaped duct being close to the lower end ofthe dispensing member; an air intake orifice in the upper part of saiddowncomer arm, said intake orifice facing the frontal air inlet openingof the passageway; an air outlet orifice in the upper part of said riserarm, said outlet orifice facing the rear air outlet opening of thepassageway; an oil wick within the reservoir; a longitudinal bore in thelower portion of said dispensing member reaching above the bend of saidU-shaped duct and receiving and holding the upper end poition of thewick; at least one opening connecting said bore and said riser armwithin the dispensing member to expose a portion of the surface of thewick to the air passing upwards through said riser arm; said openingarranged below the expected lowest oil level in the reservoir during theoperation of the device; and means to establish equality of staticpressure in said air passageway and in the reservoir.

2. An oiling device for interposition in air line, comprising incombination a casing, an oil reservoir therein; an air passagewaytraversing said casing above said oil reservoir and having a frontal airinlet opening and a rear air outlet opening; an essentially cylindricalbody mounted in said casing with its longitudinal axis at leastsubstantially perpendicular to the axis of said air passageway; saidbody reaching with its upper part into said passageway and with itslower part close to the bottom of said reservoir; two parallel boringsaxially extending into said body from its lower end; a transverse ductwithin said body connecting said parallel borings to form a U-shaped airduct composed of a downcomer duct arm and a riser duct arm; saidtransverse duct arranged below the expected lowest oil level in thereservoir; an air intake orifice in the upper part of said downcomerarm, said orifice facing the frontal air inlet opening of thepassageway; an air outlet orifice in the upper part of said riser arm,said outlet orifice facing the rear air outlet opening of thepassageway; a wick to draw oil within the reservoir; a rodlike wickholder having an outer diameter smaller than the inner diameter of theriser duct arm and inserted therein to leave an annular channel therein;means to secure the wick holder in such inserted position within saidriser duct arm; an axial boring in said wick holder receiving andholding the upper end portion of the wick; said boring extending fromthe lower end of said holder to above the expected lowest oil level inthe reservoir; at least one opening connecting said axial boring in thewick holder with said annular channel to expose a portion of the surfaceof the wick to the air passing upwards through said annular channel;said opening arranged below the said expected lowest oil level in thereservoir; means to tightly close the lower ends of said parallelborings; and means to establish equality of static pressure in saidpassageway and in said reservoir.

3. In an oiling device according to claim 1 wherein the means toestablish said equality of static pressure comprise a pipe connectingthe upper part of the reservoir space with the upper part of the spacewithin said air passageway.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNlTED STATES PATENTS2,229,176 Kehle Jan. 21, 1941 2,474,746 Lopez et al. June 28, 1949FOREIGN PATENTS 36,411 France June 7, 1930

